First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on FCF. Piper Sandler upped their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a buy rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $17.50.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

NYSE FCF opened at $16.47 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $16.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.85. First Commonwealth Financial has a 12-month low of $11.16 and a 12-month high of $19.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The firm had revenue of $120.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. First Commonwealth Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen acquired 2,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.99 per share, with a total value of $49,593.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $979,014.77. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Commonwealth Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $10,803,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $1,066,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 128,096 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 49,267 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $407,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,530 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 22,444 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides various consumer and commercial banking services in the United States. Its consumer services include personal checking accounts, interest-earning checking accounts, savings and health savings accounts, insured money market accounts, debit cards, investment certificates, fixed and variable rate certificates of deposit, mortgage loans, secured and unsecured installment loans, construction and real estate loans, safe deposit facilities, credit cards, credit lines with overdraft checking protection, IRA accounts, and automated teller machine (atm) services, as well as internet, mobile, and telephone banking services.